The present invention relates to a fibrous insulation blanket pre-cut for custom fitting the fibrous insulation blanket into cavities of different widths formed by the framework of a building, such as both standard and non-standard width wall, floor, ceiling or roof cavities formed in part by successive frame members; and, in particular, to a pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket with sections, held together by separable connectors, that can be handled as a unit when insulating a cavity of a certain predetermined width or easily separated or torn apart (by hand) along one or more cuts formed in the fibrous insulation blanket to form narrower blankets when insulating a cavity having a lesser width.
Building structures, such as residential houses, industrial buildings, office buildings, mobile homes, prefabricated buildings and similar structures typically include walls (both interior and exterior), ceilings, floors and roofs which are insulated for both thermal and acoustical purposes, especially the exterior walls, the ceilings below open attic spaces, and the roofs of such structures. The walls, ceilings, floors and roofs of these structures include framing members, e.g. studs, rafters, floor and ceiling joists, beams and similar support members, which are normally spaced-apart standard distances established by the building industry. Sheathing, paneling, lathing or similar construction materials are secured to these framing members to form the walls, ceilings, floors and roofs of the structures. While the contractor seeks to maintain the spacing of such framing members in these structures at these standard distances for ease of construction and the insulation of the elongated cavities formed in these walls, ceilings, floors, and roofs, frequently, the walls, ceilings, floors and/or roofs of these structures include elongated cavities defined, at least in part, by successive or adjacent framing members which are spaced apart a nonstandard distance less than the standard spacing between framing members. Studies have shown that in a typical residential house, it is common for 50% or more of the framing members in the exterior walls of these structures to be spaced apart at nonstandard distances less than the standard spacing for such framing members.
When insulating these elongated cavities of various nonstandard widths, less than a standard width, it has been the practice to take an insulation batt preformed to fit the standard cavity width and reduce the width of the insulation batt by cutting off and removing a strip of insulation material from one or both longitudinal edges of the insulation batt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,787; issued Jul. 26, 1994; to Kaarst; illustrates this approach. In the invention of this patent, the insulation batts or panels have widths at least equal to a predetermined maximum distance between adjacent support members defining the cavities that the batts or panels are to insulate. The batts or panels are provided with facings that are folded over along the longitudinal edges of the batts or panels so that strips of insulation material can be cut away from one or both longitudinal edges of the batts or panels to fit the batts or panels between support members spaced apart less than the predetermined maximum spacing. This method of trimming the insulation batts at the job site by cutting the batts to fit between the more closely spaced support members is time consuming, raises a significant risk or safety issue, relies heavily on the worker""s skill to accurately trim the batt or panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,905; issued Sep. 19, 1989; to Bihy et al; discloses another approach to the problem. In the invention disclosed in this patent, a continuous strip of fibrous insulation with transverse marking lines is provided. The worker cuts the strip of fibrous insulation at the job site to a width somewhat greater than the spacing between the framing members, i.e. rafters, defining the space to be insulated. Of course this method of forming insulation batts or panels at the job site is also time consuming and relies heavily on the skill of the worker cutting the insulation strip to achieve a good result.
A different approach to the problem is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,335,968; issued Dec. 7, 1943; to Sawtell. In the invention of this patent, the lateral edges of the insulation blanket are turned down to enable the insulation batt to be placed between framing members, i.e. rafters, spaced closer together than the width of the insulation batt. This approach does not require any cutting or trimming at the job site, but it can only be used where the spacing between the framing members is slightly less than the width of insulation blanket. In addition, the extra insulation material used to insulate cavities having less than a standard cavity width would add significantly to material costs.
Thus it can be seen that there has been a need to provide fibrous insulation blankets or batts which can be used to either insulate cavities of a predetermined width, such as but not limited to standard width framework cavities, or be quickly and easily reduced in width to fit cavities of lesser widths, such as less than standard width cavities, without a need to cut the fibrous insulation blankets at the job site with knives or similar cutting tools which is both time consuming and can result in cuts or other injuries to the workers.
The pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention provides a solution to the above discussed problems. The pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention is pre-cut for custom fitting the insulation blanket into building cavities of different widths formed by the framework of a building. The width of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket is normally equal to or substantially equal to the width of a standard cavity to be insulated by the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket, e.g. about fourteen and one half to about fifteen inches or about twenty two and one half to about twenty three inches in width for a typical wall cavity. However, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket may also be initially formed at a selected width, e.g. about thirteen to about thirteen and one half inches, less than a standard cavity width.
Do to the compressibility and resilience of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets of the present invention (generally pre-cut glass fiber insulation blankets), the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets can be fitted into cavities having a width up to about one and one half to about two inches less than the width of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets without removing any sections of the blankets, e.g. a pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket having a width between about fourteen and one half to about fifteen inches can be installed within a cavity having a width of about thirteen inches or greater. For cavities of lesser widths, greater than about one and one half to two inches less in width than the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets may have one or more sections removed from the blankets so that the remaining portions of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets will better fit into the cavities being insulated.
The pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention has at least one (preferably, two, three or more) cuts extending between a first major surface to a second major surface of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket. Each cut extends for the length of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket and is spaced inwardly from the lateral edges of the insulation blanket and laterally from any other cut in the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket. The cut(s) separate the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket into a plurality of longitudinally extending sections separated by the cut(s). Separable connectors hold together adjacent sections of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket for handling, but are separable by hand along the length of each cut whereby the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket can be handled as a unit for insulating a cavity having a predetermined width, such as but not limited to a standard cavity width, or easily separated by hand into two or more sections at each cut and separable connector for insulating a cavity of lesser width, such as a cavity having less than a standard width.
Preferably the separable connectors are permeable sheets and/or facing sheets bonded to the major surfaces of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket and separable along the cuts and/or strips bonded to the major surfaces of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets and separable along the cuts or separable from the blanket along the cuts. A permeable sheet used as a separable connector typically overlays the entire major surface of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket to which the sheet is adhered; is permeable to water vapor; and, due to its lightweight and/or the presence of perforated lines in the sheet, may be easily torn apart by hand along the length(s) of the cut(s) in the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket prior. A facing sheet used as a separable connector typically overlays the entire major surface of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket to which the sheet is adhered; is normally impermeable to water vapor; and, due to the presence of perforated lines, overlapping sections of the facing sheet which are separably bonded together, tear strings, or other separable means in the facing sheet, may be easily separated or torn apart by hand along length(s) of the cut(s) in the precut fibrous insulation blanket. A strip used as a separable connector typically overlays a cut, extends for the length of the cut; is bonded to a major surface of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket on both sides of the cut; and may be easily separated along the length of the cut or separated from the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket along the length of the cut. Separable connectors formed of permeable sheets or strips may be used on both major surfaces of a pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket to separably join the sections of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket together when no vapor barrier is to be included in the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket. When a pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket is to include a vapor barrier, a water vapor impermeable facing sheet is bonded to one of the major surfaces of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket and either a permeable sheet or one or more strips overlaying the cut(s) in the blanket are bonded to the other major surface of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket.
When used, the facing sheet of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket, preferably, has one or more perforated lines or overlapping tabs (tabs which are adhesively bonded together) and/or tear strings for permitting the facing to be separated at each cut in the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket to facilitate separating or tearing apart the faced pre-cut insulation blanket by hand, if required. Preferably, the perforations of the perforated line(s) in the facing sheet are closed by the bonding agent bonding the facing sheet to the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket. The filling of the perforations in the facing sheet with the bonding agent helps to reinforce or increase the integrity of the facing sheet at the perforations to prevent an unwanted separation of the facing sheet at the perforations and enables the facing sheet to function as a vapor barrier in spite of the perforations. Thus, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket with the facing sheet can still be quickly and easily modified to fit a cavity of a particular width without sacrificing the vapor barrier properties of the facing sheet.
Preferably, the facing sheet has tabs for securing the faced pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket to framing members, e.g. with mechanical fasteners such as staples or with an adhesive. These tabs may be located along each lateral edge of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket and facing sheet and pairs of tabs may be located adjacent each cut in the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket with the perforated lines in the facing sheet or an adhesive layer separably joining the tabs of each pair of tabs.
With the faced or unfaced pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket can be quickly and easily sized to fit wall, floor, ceiling, roof and other building cavities formed by the framework of a building without the need to use cutting tools at the job site to cut the insulation. Thus, the use of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention to insulate the wall, floor, ceiling and roof cavities of buildings, especially wall cavities, not only reduces safety concerns, but greatly speeds up the installation process. Since insulation installers are frequently paid by the piece, the present invention enables them to operate more profitably.